Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have in rescue a 38# male terrier/mixed dog that will not allow us to get anywhere near him or his paws to clip his nails or groom his feet. Tobey goes balistic if he even sees the nail clippers (our thoughts are a knife or other shiny object was part of his abuse?). Verified that Tobey had been grossly abused before we pulled him. We have resolved most/all other abuse related issues but we cannot re home him if this "paw" behavior persists. We choose to not chemically treat any of the animals in our care if it can be avoided. Hoping you can help and thank you in advance.

Please forgive the double post, I am new, thank you.

If he will even let you touch his paws, use an emery board on the nails. If you can't touch the paws, make him do something for you before you give him anything to eat. Start with sit, lay down, etc, working up to him giving you a paw, then you clipping one nail, then another, etc. Each time he is being rewarded, by being fed. Apparently, he had a bad experience, so you have to go in small steps.

Thank you for your response, this is what we have been working towards and I appreciate your response letting us know we are going the right way with Tobey. Never had to deal with this much fear over paws before, we will take it slow.